The libraries of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) at Moskovska Street No. 45 and No. 13 will be closed from September 2 to 30, 2025 due to the librarian's annual leave.
The Institute of Balkan Studies with Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS), École française d’Athènes and the Archeological Museum of Sozopol present the exhibition Cultes égyptiens en Mer Noire/Egyptian Cults around the Black Sea. It is part of the ‘Thrace and Egypt in the Greco-Roman World’ project directed by Vessela Atanassova, a visiting researcher at the École française d’Athènes and is funded by Horizon TMA-Maria Skłodowska-Curie Actions (project n˚101130859 – ECAT). The opening will take place on August 7, 2025 at 18:00 at the Archaeological Museum of Sozopol (Khan Kroum Street No. 3).
The first contacts between the coastal cities of the Black Sea and ancient Egypt were probably established at the beginning of the first millennium BC. The large number of Egyptian or Egyptian-style amulets found in the Greek colonies as Chersonese Taurica, Olbia, Apollonia Pontica, Mesambria bear witness to these early commercial and cultural relations. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the rise to power of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, certain cults from the Nile Valley spread to the eastern Mediterranean and reached the Black Sea coast. To their Egyptian roots were soon added Alexandrian and Greek features, which facilitated their reception all around the Pont-Euxin, along the multiple routes of a very dense network of communications. The exhibition Egyptian Cults around the Black Sea invites you to discover these ancient links between the Black Sea and the Nile Valley.
The Institute of Balkan Studies with Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) held a Conference titled "Cultural Heritage in the Digital Era". It was organized on July 30, 2025 in the "Acad. Ivan Geshov" Hall at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The sessions of the conference focussed on cultural heritage as an online resource and to the past, present and future of encyclopedias. Among the participants in the forum were Acad. Ilza Pazheva, Coordinator of the "Bulgarian Encyclopedia" Project; Prof. Vessela Tsakova, Main Coordinator of the Consortium for Modern Research Infrastructure in Support of Science, Culture and Technology, part of the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure INFRAMAT; Harry Verwayen, General Director of the Europeana Foundation; Kiril Valchev, General Director of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA); scientists from various units of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences: IBSCT, Institute of Physical Chemistry, National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Scientific Centre "Bulgarian Encyclopedia", Institute for Information and Communication Technologies; from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".
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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences organizes an International Conference "Cultural Heritage in the Digital Era". The event will be held on July 30, 2025 in the Acad. Ivan Geshov Hall in the central building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1, 15 November Street, 1000 Sofia).
The conference is organised under the National Roadmap for Science INFRAMAT, financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Contract No. ДО1-322/30.11.2023 and № ДО1-96/26.06.2025.
We look forward to welcoming you!
THE BULGARIAN NORTHWEST IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND LITERATURE, compil. by Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Dr. habil., Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia: IK Tendril, 2025, 218 p. ISBN 978-619-7812-00-8.
The collection "The Bulgarian Northwest in Scientific Research and Literature" is the sixth publication in a row of proceedings from the annual conferences organized by the IBSCT-BAS Branch in the city of Montana (Bulgaria) focusing on Northwest Bulgaria. The volume dedicated to scholarly research and literature includes ten articles by researchers from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Regional History Museum in Montana, the State Archives - Montana, the New Bulgarian University and the University of Forestry. For another year, scholarly works by doctoral students and academics, research presenting unpublished archival material and analyses of the cultural achievements of significant figures from the Northwest have been collected in one place.
The collection "The Bulgarian Northwest in Scientific Research and Literature" follows the tradition of popularizing the history of Northwest Bulgaria by not only introducing unknown or little-known archival materials into scholarly parlance, but also revealing the cultural wealth of the region. The presented collection of publications includes texts written by four academics, which is a clear sign for the importance that the series on the Bulgarian Northwest has acquired in recent years. This sixth volume also clearly shows the growth of young researchers who have been given the opportunity to publish their scholarly works in the last years.
On July 4, 2025, as part of the "Historical Chameleons" project, a discussion on the concept of "city" was held in a hybrid form. Researchers from different historical periods made brief presentations of the meanings and perceptions of the term. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vladimir Slavchev from the Regional History Museum - Varna and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tosho Spiridonov presented on prehistoric cities, formulating the main characteristics that a settlement must meet to be classified as such. Prof. Svetlana Yanakieva reviewed the terms used to designate cities in written evidence, clearly distinguished the etymological differences between cities and villages, and presented the development of some of the concepts in chronological order. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivo Topalilov from IBCT-BAS gave a presentation on the Roman city, mainly in the period of the Principate and the early empire. He emphasized the different status of cities and the essential characteristics that distinguish them. The changes that the Roman city underwent during Late Antiquity were described by Prof. Dr. Ventsislav Dinchev, NAIM-BAS, a highlight being the unification of cities and their inclusion within the church structure.
On July 2, 2025, a public lecture-discussion on the topic “Greece's culture is far more than the Acropolis” took place in the Acad. Ivan Geshov Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It was held in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Greece in Bulgaria and is part of the series of events dedicated to cultural diplomacy in the Balkans, organized by the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) in institutional partnership with the State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria (DKI). The initiative is implemented under the Project “Cultural diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st centuries: Achievements, challenges, and the way forward”, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The public lecture-discussion was opened by the Project Manager Assist. Prof. Dr. Alexandra Milanova, Scientific Coordinator of the IBSCT-BAS. The attendees were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Roumiana Preshlenova, Director of the IBSCT-BAS, and Ms. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Director of DKI.
The speaker at the event was H.E. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador of the Republic of Greece to Bulgaria. He introduced the attendees to the main aspects of Greek culture beyond the well-known symbols, briefly presented the contemporary cultural policy and diplomacy of Greece, as well as the country's participation in international cultural exchange, including within the framework of UNESCO. The lively discussion that followed touched on various topics related to scientific and university cooperation, tourism, the relationship between culture and security, and many others.
Special guest was H.E. Joël Meyer, Ambassador of the Republic of France to Bulgaria. The event was attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mario Ivanov, Scientific Secretary of Division 8 "Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity", Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Tian, Scientific Secretary of Division 9 "Man and Society", Assoc. Prof. Dr. Albena Taneva, Head of the Department of Public Administration at the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", journalists from the Bulgarian National Radio, representatives of the cultural sector, scholars, university professors, doctoral candidates, and students.
On June 27th, 2025, the Bulgarian-Romanian Historical Commission held its regular session. Professor Daniel Citirigă, Professor Daniel Cain, and Professor Roumiana Preshlenova welcomed the participants and the audience. In their addresses, they emphasized the importance of continuing a long academic tradition established by Romanian and Bulgarian scholars and outlined prospects for future cooperation.
This year, the theme of the conference was Monarchy in the Balkans Through the Centuries. Scholars from the Institute for South-East European Studies at the Romanian Academy, the Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology, Institute of Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the Faculty of History and Political Science at Ovidius University of Constanța presented their contributions — outcomes of comparative and interdisciplinary research. They discussed the role of monarchs and monarchy as an institution from the Middle Ages to the present day.
On June 6, 2025, the conference "The Bulgarian Northwest in the European Southeast through the Ages" was held in the city of Montana, organized by the branch of the IBSCT-BAS and the Regional Academic Center in Montana (RAC - Montana) in partnership with the Municipality of Montana and the Regional Historical Museum (RHM).
The forum was opened by Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Dr. habil. (IBSCT-BAS), Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Participants were welcomed by the Mayor of the city, Mr. Zlatko Zhivkov, followed by greetings from the coordinator of the RAC - Montana, Eng. Valeri Georgiev, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vanya Ivanova, Director of RHM - Montana.
The conference, which is held every year, is the seventh in a row. It brought together researchers from institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and historians from the region. One of the topics discussed was related to the migration processes in the Bulgarian Northwest in the past and today. For example, the paper by Prof. Raia Zaimova, Dr. habil. and Assist. Prof. Dr. Margarita Dobreva (IBSCT-BAS) introduced the audience to the Hungarian emigration to Vidin according to documents stored in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul (1849-1850). The presentation by Vladimir Paunovski (IBSCT-BAS) was dedicated to “The Jews from Vidin as migrants in the 16th–18th centuries”. Nelly Stoyanova (RHM - Vratsa) spoke about the migration waves in the Bulgarian Northwest during the Revival period.
We are pleased to invite you to join a discussion about the concept of the city, which will be held on July 4, 2025, at 13:00.The event will be hosted live in the "Acad. Ivan Evstratiev Geshov" Hall at the central building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1, 15 Novembre Str.), and remotely via ZOOM (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81339988213).
The event is organized as part of the activities of the "Historical Chameleons" project, implemented by the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the scientific infrastructure CLADA.BG. More about the event and the project can be found at https://historical-chameleons.clada-bg.com/en/concept-of-city/ and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/715192998107388
The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is pleased to invite you to the public lecture-discussion on the topic “Greece's culture is far more than the Acropolis”. It will be held on July 2, 2025 (Wednesday) at 10:00 in the Ivan Geshov Hall in the central building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1, 15 November Street, 1000 Sofia). Special guest and lecturer will be H.E. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador of the Republic of Greece to Bulgaria.
The event is organized in institutional partnership with the State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is part of a series of public lecture-discussions dedicated to cultural diplomacy in Bulgaria and the Balkans.
We look forward to welcoming you!
This initiative is implemented as part of the Project “Cultural diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st centuries: Achievements, challenges, and the way forward”, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, contract No. КП-06-Н80/4 dated 07.12.2023.
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On May 16-18, 2025, the Institute of Balkan Studies with Centrе of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences organized an international conference together with the Department of History and Ethnology of the Democritus University of Thrace in Komotini and the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Vienna. The academic forum entitled "History, Monuments, and Art in Southeastern Europe: From Early Modernity to the Present" brought together historians, linguists, and experts in cultural heritage from Southeastern Europe in Komotini. Over three days, they presented the results of their research on the history, monuments, and narratives that have shaped the development of this dynamic region from early modernity to the present. Their presentations and discussions shed light on the complex interplay between history, art, and cultural identity in Southeast Europe.